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Highly recommendable

Since giving up meat several years ago, for the second time, I've been pleasantly surprised at the selection of meat substitute foods that are now to be found in the supermarket as well as in health food stores. There is such a better selection nowadays than there was in the 1970s and 1980s, both in respect of quality and quantity. As I have to cook for omnibvvores and herbivores the discovery of Quorn, and the increase in other meatless food accessibility has made life easier, in the kitchen at least.

I have mentioned in previous reviews that, as I cook for meat eaters and non meat eaters, I find that cooking a similar meal for both works best for me as this makes choosing what to cook somewhat easier. If everyone in the home were vegetarian then I probably wouldn't often choose meat substitute dishes but as this isn't the case I am always on the look out for meat free recipes; particualrly those which fit into the meals planned for all the family.

I have tried many types of meatless burgers. I have found that many are nice and all are passable, if served and eaten as a' beefburger' in a bun, served with cheese slices and tomato sauce plus,in my case, mustard. I do find that most meat free burgers try to emulate meat but this doesn't quite work. I also find that with a Quorn burger, wheras I would have eaten two burgers when I ate meat, now I can only eat one if it's Quorn. I find these a bit too filling in a sort of fill you up quickly but not for long sort of way! But don't get me wrong; all the meatless burgers I've tried are reasonable, some better than others, but all are edible and fairly nice. Then a while back I discovered Caulfdron mushroom Burgers and I have to say that I find these far superior to any other meat free burgers that I have tried so far. I would go so far as to say that these are really tasty with a better texture than Quorn burgers. and really have a flavoursome and moist taste to them.

ABOUT CAULDRON

I have tried several products from the Cauldron range and have been impressed so far.

Here is an extract taken from http://cauldronfoods.co.uk

'Cauldron has been making a huge range of delicious food including falafels, veggie sausages & pâtés, bakes and, of course, tofu for over 25 years. Our team of dedicated foodies are bubbling over with imaginative new ways to bring you mouth-watering vegetable based foods for you to enjoy. Our team of dedicated foodies are bubbling over with imaginative new ways to bring you mouth-watering vegetable based foods for you to enjoy.Tofu is our first love - in fact it was the first thing we ever made. Cauldron founder, Philip Marshal travelled across the Asian continent where he discovered the time-honoured process of making Tofu from soya beans.Our Tofu went down a storm, so we started making other tasty vegetable-based foods. 30 years later, creativity is at the heart of the Cauldron ideal. All our dishes are made from inspiring recipes and exciting combinations of ingredients.'

And...

'In addition, all of our products use only non-GM ingredients and our ingredients are specifically selected and sustainably sourced to bring you the very best in taste which gives you more choice. '

I, personally, have been particularly impressed with their range of vegetarian sausages, as well as the mushroom burgers and their pates. I feel this manufacturer offers some interesting foods.

INGREDIENTS

The burgers are made with mushrooms, potato, water, brown rice, onion and other things added. I won't go into all ingredients but if you are interested then these can be found on the Cauldron website:

*However please note that they DO contain: egg & wheat gluten and are made in a factory which uses milk and soya products.

*Mushroom burgers are made with non GM ingredients.

* They are Vegetarian Society Approved

HOW TO COOK MUSHROOM BURGERS

I have now cooked these burgers several times and would say that they are very easy to prepare but care should be taken not to overcook them or they will taste a little dry and you won't get the full enjoyment from this brand.

I find the best way to prepare them is to oven cook, as recommended, in a pre-heated oven at 200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6 for 8 minutes. They can be frozen but then are best defrosted before cooking.

HOW BEST TO SERVE

I mostly use these as a burger in a bun with relishes. However these are tasty as a meal with chips, new poataoes or a crispy salad. I consider them to be a versatile dish.

AVAILABILITY/PRICE

These are available from sainsbury's and Morrisons supermarkets. Sainsbury's currently sell a pack of two ( 2x 175g) generously sized mushroom burgers for £1.59

I do find though that these are often difficult to purchase get as Sainsburys seem to take a long time in getting new supplies once the current stock has run out. When I find them in store I tend to buy two or three packs at a time.

WOULD I RECOMMEND

I think these are a healthy food made by responsible manufacturer. Mostly though I would recommend these because they really are tasty and, for me, they are the best meatless burgers I've tried. I have tried plenty. Although they are not meat they very substantial and have a pleasant texture. Altogether these provide a hearty meal.

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A nice alternative to regular burgers.

Me and my husband tried these last week. We are big fans of the cauldron vegetarian sausage range so thought we would try the mushroom burgers. I don't really like burgers that try and be meat substitutes, I find they just taste strange, so I thought as these were mushroom burgers they would be a better alternative.

A pack of two burgers costs £1.49 from Sainsburys, which does seem a bit expensive for burgers, but they were very nice so I don't mind the price.

You can freeze these when you buy them, which is what we did, but you have to defrost them thoroughly before cooking them. It says on the packet that they only take 8 minutes in the oven, and I gave them ten just to make sure, and this made them a bit crispier on the outside, which I quite like, but if you want them soft I would stick to the timing.

The taste of these burgers is actually really nice, they are quite plain, and definitely have a mushroom taste to them, but I found quite a few small chunks of potato in mine which was very nice. They were nothing too exciting flavour wise, but were nice. You can taste the black pepper in them too, but it's not overpowering. The burgers are only about 1.5cm thick and they are round, but they do fill you up.

It says on the packet that there are 7g of fat per burger, which seems like an average amount, but it's got to be less than a meat burger!

These burgers are not suitable for vegans as they have eggs in them.

I would definitely recommend these burgers for vegetarians, or for people just looking for a healthier option to a meat burger. They don't have a massive amount of flavour but they are very pleasant.

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Recommended for vegetarians and non-vegetarians

I am a vegetarian but I love burgers - I'm quite fussy about which ones I eat though as I won't touch the 'fake meat' variety - they have to have a more interesting flavour. I normally stick to spicy bean burgers and the like but I was attracted by these mushroom burgers, especially as Cauldron products were on offer, 3 for 2, at Sainsbury's.

I really like the packaging for Cauldron products - although the background is plain there is always an attractive picture of the product and the Cauldron logo in green writing. The label for these states that there are only 125 calories per burger, and all the ingredients are normal natural products and flavouring - mushrooms dominate naturally but other ingredients include onion, potato and soya bean fibre, with parsley and black pepper to flavour. The burgers are Vegetarian Society approved, must be kept refrigerated (though they can be frozen) and are cooked in the oven or on the grill which takes 12-15 minutes.

I find these burgers very tasty - you can really taste the mushroom and if you do them in the oven they are ever so slightly crispy on the outside and softer on the inside which makes for a nice texture. I don't find them bland at all and really enjoy them. I like to eat them in a bun with brown sauce or on a green salad (like the packet suggests!). They are a really versatile and delicious food and I will definitely be buying again!

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The best non meat burger on the market!

I have recently been trying the Cauldron range of vegetarian products as an alternative to Quorn after being impressed by their tofu. I saw these mushroom burgers in my local sainsburys, priced at £1.49 for two burgers. This is around the same price as two quorn quarter pounders are but the picture on the packet made them look much more appealing so we decided to give them a go.

On taking them out of the packet they looked sort of grey brown and not so appealing but we decided to whack them in the oven and dress them up with burger buns, relish and some salad.

Each burger contains only 125 calories and 0.7g of saturated fat which is quite similar to the quorn products and very healthy when compared to a regular meat burger. In terms of weight watchers points this makes each burger worth 2 points. Again, this is a great alternative for anyone on the plan as a regular meat burger will be around twice that points value.

These burgers can be grilled or cooked in the oven, we opted for the latter method and cooked them for around 15 minutes. They looked much more appetizing once cooked, had darkened slightly in colour and looked more moist and succulent.

Both of us were mighty impressed with these burgers, which seem to have a wonderfully meaty texture - more so than the quorn versions. I tried a mouthful of the burger on its own and can confirm that they do have a bit of a bland taste, its all about what you serve it with here. With relish and all the other bits on my burger this was very tasty and to me thats what matters, as long as I am saving points and eating a healthy version of an old favourite.

Unfortunately I cannot find these in Asda or Tesco, only Sainsburys seem to stock this product so they are a little more difficult to find which is the only negative. As far as veggie alternatives go this is definitely the best non-meat burger on the market in our opinion, once again Cauldron come out on top!

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Partner these with something tasty and they'll do very nicely

I am not a vegetarian but I like a good variety of foods and generally I love things like veggie burgers and sausages.

I bought these as I love mushrooms and I thought they'd be a change from the usual spicy bean burgers.

They were easy to cook and while they are not flat discs, they are pretty compact, making them a bit tougher than some of the really thick ones you can get which crumble apart almost instantly.

I had them with a jacket spud and some greek salad and I must say they needed the extra flavours of the salad to make a satisfying meal. They are rather bland. They are pleasant, and well textured, but essentially don't have a lot of flavour. The mushroomy taste they have is nice, but it needs something else to fill it out. I found that by the end of the meal it was getting somewhat samey and I wasn't really enthused.

That said, I may well buy them again, so long as they can be partnered with something tasty to make up for what they lack in flavour.

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My love affair with these burgers began when I was looking for something quick and easy to cook for a vegetarian friend who was coming over that night. Normally I'd do a veggie chilli or bolognese, but on this day I couldn't be bothered with cooking as it was so hot, and took a trip to Asda and its veggie chiller cabinet, where these stood out as they were only £1.

The packaging also appealed to me - a plastic sealed box within a recyclable card (itself made from recycled paper) sleeve in muted cappucino tones with some nice green writing and an artistic little sketch of a mushroom. It also had a photo of a cooked buger, nicely browned, served with some salad . Quita classy looking packaging really . And the pack had two large and lovely looking burgers.

On the back of the pack was all the ingredients - and I like the way they listed them - listing everything that went into the burgers to make them , and then going into a little more detail underneath. For example, one ingredient was mushroom stock, so underneath the main ingredients listing was a smaller bit letting us know whats in the mushroom stock, and it reveals nothing too scary .

I was also pleased to note that the mushrooms used in this burger are organic, and that the egg used is free range . Happy chickens mean a guilt free eating experience .

So, sliding the plastic pack out of the carboard sleeve, I then have to open it. Now, it does have a little tab to help you pull the top off, but me, I'm a stab it with a knife and rip kind of a girl. Getting the burgers out of the inner pack was tricky though - they were stacked one on top of the other, and I had to work my fingers underneath to lift them out . They were a little fragile, in fact one got a large crack along it as I lifted it out . Perhaps packaging them side by side might have made things easier .

They're a little pale looking, pale brown with a dimpled texture and some visible chunks on onion and potato . Slapping them onto my worktop grill, I'm happy to say they passed the lid squish test (most veggie products can't take the weight of the lid and get squased) and remained in burger shape . A few short minutes later, and with the smell of onion and spices wafting around the kitchen, the burgers had darkened in colour to a much more appetising dark golden brown, and had a lovely crispiness round the edges .

Slapping them into a burger bun with some cheese, guacamole, and salsa, my friend and I tucked in. I found the texture of the burger surprising, in a very pleasant way. I'm so used to thin dry veggie burgers that the rich moistness of this was an incredbly good surprise, especially when compared with the crispy crunch of the outside of the burger and the soft lightness of the rich mushroom, onion and potato mixture inside .

The flavour was rich and deep, and seemed to penetrate right into my tastebuds - potato, onion, and mushroom, with just the right amount of seasoning - absolutely delicious . This isn't a veggie burger trying to do a cheap imitation of a beef burger - this is a brilliant burger in it's own right .

I've purchased these since - I now eat these instead of my usual beef burgers . They're low calorie too - each burger is 125 calories, although 5.5 g of that is fat . Still, it's not too bad - especially as one burger was enough to take me all through the night without my usual snacking .

For those with allergies, bear in mind that these contain celery, gluten, and egg . The egg of course makes them unsuitable for vegans too .

Overall, a very very impressive burger, and now a regular on my shopping list .